2018 Playoffs A Coruña Game 16, First Place Game: Arch Rival vs. Crime City

342

149

The championship game of the 2018 International Playoffs A Coruña pitted the imposing No. 1 Seed, Arch Rival Roller Derby of St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., against the upstart No. 3 Seed, the Crime City Rollers from Malmö, Sweden. With a gold medal on the line, the Arch Rival juggernaut came out swinging and remained relentless throughout, ending a dominating performance with a 342-149 win.

Marko Niemelä Photography

Grabbing lead in the first four jams, Arch Rival was off to a quick start and a 27-0 advantage before Bricktator was sent to the box for a low block, allowing Ponycat to post 14 and put Crime City on the board. In the next jam, Arch’s Kid picked up a back block penalty and Crime’s Hanna P took advantage — scoring 17 and cutting Arch’s lead to 59-31. Crime would inch even closer in the next jam as Arch’s blockers encountered some penalty trouble and Curly Håår racked up 19-4 on an electrifying jam for Crime City.

Gif by DavefaceFMS

Arch took a timeout and returned to the track with renewed focus and ruthless discipline, going on a 115-30 run over the next 15 minutes and ending the half with a commanding 182-80 lead.

I feel like the score of this game doesn’t represent how hard both of these teams are going. Everybody on the track is straight up a legend right about now. #talk2wftda

Perhaps hoping to forestall another mythical Crime City comeback, Arch exploded into the second half with a 20-0 Bricktator jam followed by 17-3 from Swanson. Arch continued to add to their lead, utilizing the successful four jammer rotation of Bricktator, Swanson, Kid, and Reptar to spread the workload and keep their point-scorers fresh.

Gif by DavefaceFMS

Crime continued to rely heavily on their top two jammers, Curly and Hanna P, and were rewarded when the two combined for a five-in-a-row lead jammer run midway through the second period. But just after Hanna P delivered Crime’s highest-scoring jam of the half with an impressive 17-4, Malmö jammer Ponycat went to the box twice and finished the jam with time remaining on her penalty, setting up a power start for Arch’s Bricktator. Bricktator responded by dropping a monster 33-0 jam that looked like a highlight reel, with three successful apex jumps and jaw-dropping footwork.

With a 305-138 score and just minutes remaining, another comeback didn’t appear within reach for Crime City, but they were able to pick up one more lead jam for Hanna P before the final whistle. The game ended with both jammers adding to their team’s total, for a final score of 342-149. Both teams advance to the 2018 International WFTDA Championships in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. Bricktator, who scored 130 points in this game, and 325 in the tournament overall for Arch Rival, was awarded tournament MVP.

Whew, that was a bruiser. Proud of Crime for hanging in there! Really excited to see what Arch is gonna do at Champs this year!! #talk2WFTDA